Stephen was not a local resident, and due to his busy work, he rarely returned to his hometown. During the holidays, he usually spent his time at his in-laws' house. This New Year's Day was no exception.

Stephen's father-in-law, Hank Lee, had a traditional style and did not like living in the city center's high-rise buildings. He retired early and returned to the village where he was born and raised.

With the city's expansion, this place is now considered suburban. He acquired a piece of land here and built a spacious courtyard for himself.

The courtyard had white walls, gray tiles, red wooden doors and windows, and two stone lions placed on either side of the main entrance, which looked very majestic.

From the outside, it resembled an ancient government office, and the interior decorations were also retro and luxurious.

This probably fulfilled the saying, "The rich don't return to their hometowns until they are dressed in fabulous attire." Since he had returned to his hometown in wealth and prosperity, it was natural for him to show off.

When Joshua and Stephen arrived, the house was already filled with people.

"Boys!" The sharp-eyed younger sister of Hank, aunt Marry, was the first to notice them and warmly greeted them. "Come inside, it's cold outside."

They entered the reception room, Marry promptly brewed hot tea for them while instructing her daughter-in-law to move chairs for them. Everyone was warm and attentive, as if they were honored guests.

Hank was seated on the main seat, conversing with his younger brother, Anderson. After asking about their well-being, Anderson immediately stood up and gave his seat to Stephen.

"Come, Steve, sit here."

Stephen took a seat while Hank beckoned to his own son. "Your mother is still in the kitchen. Go check on her."

Marry immediately stepped in to defend, "Hank, seriously, Josh has just returned, and you're sending him straight to the kitchen?"

Hank stared at Joshua and couldn't help but comment unbearably "Why don't you cut this hair? What's the point of a grown man having long hair?"

"You traditional guys don't understand the trends of young people. It looks good, doesn't it?"

"Bullshit..."

"It's a big holiday, why start arguing?"

Marry turned to Joshua. "Don't care the old man. Let's go to the kitchen and see what delicious food there is."

Marry held his hand and sighed softly as they walked out the door. "Don't take those words to heart. Your father's conservative mindset can't fully accept the fact that his son married another man. You should understand him too."

Joshua remained expressionless and simply replied in silence.

Although homosexuality now had the same rights as heterosexuality, it was still a minority, and there was still discrimination in many places, albeit in a more covert way.

He unintentionally revealed his orientation during his adolescence. His father went mad, and he tried countless methods to correct him.

Even though doctors informed his father that homosexuality was not an illness and could not be treated, from middle school to university, he still underwent various corrective treatments, all of which ultimately failed.

His father almost forced him onto the path of marriage and having children. It has to be said that Stephen's existence, to some extent, saved him and some girl who would have unconsciously become a gay's wife.

Stephen worked for his father at that time. Probably because he earned his father's respect and happened to be a homosexual himself, so his father arranged for them to meet.

He got along well with Stephen, and half a year later, they got married.

Only then did his father reluctantly agree to him being with another man, and gave up finding him a wife.

If thinking more, everything had a hint.

Hank was one of the first college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1978 in China, and he was the only college student in their village.

The whole family worked together to support him, but as a result, his younger siblings lost the opportunity to go to school. He not only carried the burden of his own small family, but also the responsibility of the entire extended family.

He lived a good life, but his younger siblings needed financial support, which put great economic pressure on him. In order to earn more money, he left his job in a public institution and started his own factory. By middle age, he was exhausted and burdened with illness.

Hank thought that once his son grew up, he could relieve from the burden and pressure, but he didn't expect his carefully cultivated son to turn out this way.

Joshua showed no interest in the factory and couldn't help him. Moreover, there was no way for Joshua to continue running the factory after his retirement.

It was at this time that Stephen appeared, a young and capable man. Through a series of innovations, he greatly improved the efficiency of the factory within just two years.

No employer would dislike such a young talent. In addition to the admiration of an employer for an employee, Hank has the extra affection of an elder for a junior when comparing Stephen to his incompetent son. Perhaps even before knowing that Stephen was gay, he had the idea of handing over the factory to him in the future.

However, he couldn't just hand over the business that he had built with so much effort to a stranger based solely on a contract. It just so happened that Stephen came to him, asking if he would allow him to pursue his son, Joshua.

In the kitchen, Joshua's mother was in charge of cooking and was busy.

They had maids in the house, but at festivities when families gathered, it was always the hostess who took charge of cooking. It had nothing to do with anything else, only involving the host's dignity and his face of the family.

Joshua took off his coat, put on an apron, and skillfully took the ladle from his mother's hand.

"Mom, let me do it."

Marry admired him. "Ah, you are so capable. Your cooking skills are no worse than your sister-in-law's."

Joshua smiled. "Cooking was taught by my mom."

His mother stood by the kitchen counter without leaving. Seeing that there were no outsiders here, she lowered her voice and mentioned the same old topic with concern.

"You have been married for seven years. It's time to consider having a baby. Even if it's just two men in a family, you should have a child. A man needs to have a child to establish roots in the family and resist the temptations of the outside world. You need to put more effort into it."

"Mom, it's not that simple for us to have children in our situation."

"Why is it not simple? Just spend money to have surrogacy abroad, two of them. One with your surname and the other with Steve's. That solves all the problems. I've seen wealthy people do that. And you have the money for it." Right away, Marry came up with this idea.

Joshua's mother neither agreed nor opposed this proposal. She had become more conservative in her thinking. "Even if you adopt one from an orphanage, or adopt one from a distant relative, you should still have a child."

"This is also your dad's idea. If you agree, I'll find someone to ask for help and pay attention to it."

Joshua's expression remained cold as he simply said, "You should discuss this with Stephen. He's the one in charge at home."

Joshua's mother looked worried. "How can we bring up such a matter with him? You can find a suitable time to talk to him."

Marry sighed, "If our boy were a girl, it would be better..."

Joshua's mother gave her stern look, "Marry, don't mention such things in front of your older brother, he will get angry."

Marry called his mother away, leaving Joshua alone in the kitchen.

He understood very well that even though his father had found such a talented son-in-law, he still didn't trust him, worried that Stephen wouldn't be loyal enough, worried that their marriage would have problems. That's why he urgently needed a child as a double insurance to maintain Stephen's loyalty.

Now the company was fully managed by Stephen. If their marriage were to break apart, the Lees would undoubtedly suffer huge losses. It wasn't just his father, his uncles and aunt, every family member had some shares, so the responsibility weighed heavily on Joshua.